Europeans' meeting with top Iranian diplomat yields hope of more talks
but no breakthrough
[June 21, 2025]
By JAMEY KEATEN
GENEVA (AP) — A meeting between Iran’s foreign minister and top European
diplomats on Friday yielded hopes of further talks but no immediate
concrete breakthrough, a week after the crisis centered on the Iranian
nuclear program erupted into war between Israel and Tehran.
Foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany, as well as the
European Union's foreign policy chief, emerged from talks at a Geneva
hotel about 3 1/2 hours after Iran's Abbas Araghchi arrived for the
meeting.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian
officials since the start of the conflict.
In a joint written statement issued after the talks ended, the three
European nations and the EU said that they “discussed avenues towards a
negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear program.” They reiterated their
concerns about the “expansion” of the nuclear program, adding that it
has “no credible civilian purpose.”
“The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression
that the Iranian side is fundamentally ready to continue talking about
all important issues,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said,
adding both sides had held “very serious talks.”
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We are keen to continue
ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to
continue their talks with the United States.” He added that “we were
clear: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
In a separate statement, Lammy stressed that the aim of Europe and the
U.S. was that Iran should stop all uranium enrichment. He said that
“there can be discussions about the energy needs of Iran” but added that
“zero enrichment is the starting point."
Lammy told British media outlets that there is “a window of within two
weeks where we can see a diplomatic solution,” and urged Iran “to take
that off ramp.”
“We must absolutely prioritize a return to full negotiations that
include the nuclear program to go toward zero enrichment,” said French
President Emmanuel Macron earlier on Friday in an apparent alignment
with the U.S. position.
Enrichment has been the key point of contention in talks between the
U.S. and Iran over its nuclear program. U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff
at one point suggested Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67%, then later
began saying Iran must stop all enrichment on its soil. That position on
the American side has hardened over time. Tehran rejects giving up all
uranium enrichment.
“Military operations can slow Iran’s nuclear program but in no way can
they eliminate it,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. “We
know well -- after having seen what happened in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in
Libya — how illusory and dangerous it is to want to impose regime change
from outside.”
Barrot also said that European nations ”invited the Iranian minister to
envisage negotiations with all parties including the United States, and
without waiting for the end of the strikes."
The French Foreign Minister explained that in discussions with Iran,
Foreign Minister Araghchi agreed “to put all the issues on the table
including some that weren’t there before” and “showed his disposition to
continuing the conversation — that we started today — and for the
Europeans to help facilitate, including with the United States.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ”we agreed that we will discuss
nuclear but also broader issues that we have, and keep the discussions
open."
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also addressed reporters outside
the meeting venue after the talks ended. He expressed support for
continuing discussions with the three European countries and the EU. He
also denounced Israel’s attacks against nuclear facilities in Iran and
expressed “grave concern” over what he called “non-condemnation” by
European nations.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaks, during the 59th
session of the Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of
the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, June 20, 2025.
(Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
U.S. considering how to proceed
Lammy traveled to Geneva after meeting in Washington with U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s Mideast
envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its
well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried
under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but
America’s “bunker-buster” bombs. He said Wednesday that he’ll decide
within two weeks whether the U.S. military will get directly
involved in the war given the “substantial chance” for renewed
negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Israel says it launched its airstrike campaign to stop Iran from
getting closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon. Iran and the
United States had been negotiating over the possibility of a new
diplomatic deal over Tehran’s program, though Trump has said
Israel’s campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that “we wanted to
open a discussion with the Iranian foreign minister because we
believe that there is no definitive solution by military means to
the Iranian nuclear problem — military operations may delay it but
they can't eliminate it.”
'We are not seeking negotiations'
Iran’s supreme leader rejected U.S. calls for surrender Wednesday
and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would
cause “irreparable damage to them.”
Before Friday's talks, Araghchi said in an interview aired by
Iranian state television that “in the current situation, as the
Zionist regime’s attacks continue, we are not seeking negotiations
with anyone.”
He said that “we have nothing to discuss with the United States,
which is a partner in these crimes."
”As for others, if they seek dialogue, not negotiations, which don’t
make sense right now, we have no problem with that,” he added. He
said that Friday’s discussion would focus “solely on the nuclear
issue and regional matters” and Iran won’t hold talks on its
missiles with anyone.
Threats to reinstate sanctions
Just before meeting the European diplomats, Araghchi made a brief
appearance before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. He said
that Israel’s “attacks on nuclear facilities are grave war crimes,”
and insisted that “we are entitled … and determined to defend our
territorial integrity, national sovereignty and security with all
force.”
Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though it
was the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a
short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
The three European countries played an important role in the
negotiations over the original 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and
world powers. But they have repeatedly threatened to reinstate
sanctions that were lifted under the deal if Iran does not improve
its cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International
Atomic Energy Agency.
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Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Sylvie Corbet in
Paris, Jill Lawless in London and Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna
contributed to this report.
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